Sin Is Like a Wild Animal

“Sin is crouching at the door.”

Genesis 4:7

Sin is a power. It has life and vigour in it. That means you have to track it down and deal with it, or it will destroy you.

In the story of Cain and Abel, Abel brought God an acceptable sacrifice, but Cain did not. So Cain became angry. God said, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door” (4:6-7). Sin is like a wild animal crouching at the door of your life, ready to pounce. The Lord said to Cain: “Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it” (4:7).

Imagine you are in a primitive jungle village. One day you hear that a leopard has come into the village and killed one of the children. Now that the leopard has the taste of blood, you know he’ll be back for more. So, you have no choice but to hunt and kill the leopard.

The village chief asks for volunteers, and a group steps forward. Spear in hand, you move out from the village, looking for signs of the leopard. You look for tracks or carcasses. You listen for the sounds of a large animal on the move. And you walk very slowly, because you know that while you are stalking the leopard, the leopard is stalking you.

You are the hunter, but you are also the hunted. That’s how it is with sin. An encounter is inevitable, and when it happens, either you will kill the leopard or the leopard will kill you.

How do you view sin? Like a wild animal? Why or why not?